Would You Still Bet on Him to Win? (Jujutsu Kaisen Arc Begins)

Behind Huayama Seishū, a seemingly endless golden ocean roared, yet those primal calls of the soul had no effect on him.

Instead, it was the densely packed soul slashes that caused him some trouble, thanks to the domain's additional rules.

Guaranteed hit, guaranteed kill!

Huayama Seishū looked at the peaceful village and the old water buffalo mooing at him, nodded, and changed his hand seal again.

"It seems I'll have to dismantle the underlying logic of this barrier before I can find them."

The oceanlike golden tide surged violently in every direction, quickly swallowing the entire village, and continued spreading, even encroaching on the heavens.

Magnificent streams of golden water could be seen climbing into the sky like giant snakes, about to cover the entire world.

Lu You set Kaguya Ruri down from his arms. The two of them hid in a corner of the domain.

But at this rate, the domain would not hold out much longer.

"My strength isn't lacking, and I have techniques at my disposal. But there's a fundamental difference between the quality of his Psychic Energy and mine. Tier three is a higher dimension. When he fights me, it's a dimensionality-reduction strike."

"If I want the strength to move freely under his attacks, the most important thing is to improve my foundation."

Lu You turned his gaze toward the pitiful-looking Kaguya Ruri.

She was no longer putting on a brave front. Looking at her now, she even seemed a little silly.

"You, I, he..."

She wanted to ask something, but ultimately fell silent again, her face burning red.

She had actually been posturing in front of a tier-three venerable.

And those things she had said to Lu You earlier-looking back now, they were utterly mortifying!

She slowly covered her flushed face with both hands, making strange little whimpering noises.

"Kaguya, I need your help."

"Tell me."

Kaguya Ruri peeked at Lu You through the gaps between her fingers. Seeing how serious he was, she answered meekly.

"I need your necklace."

"I... I can give it to you, but can you return it afterward?"

Her question stumped Lu You too. He did not know whether he could return it; this was his first time recycling a red item.

"Here."

When Lu You remained silent, Kaguya Ruri still undid her necklace and handed it to him. Lu You reached out to take it, and a clear chime immediately rang beside his ear.

[Congratulations on picking up a red item-Eternal Heart!]

[Eternal Heart-Red]: The most dazzling, purest diamond in an unknown spacetime, polished for his wife by one who attained the Dao while he was still a mortal. It symbolizes steadfast, eternal, undying love.

During the current Valentine's Day event, its recycling value is red.

Lu You stroked the Eternal Heart, then looked at Kaguya Ruri again and shamelessly continued asking, "Do you have any more? I mean, other things like this."

"I..."

Kaguya Ruri puffed out her cheeks, wanting to resist, but ultimately deflated and gave in. After all, she had already lost every shred of dignity in that fight just now.

She rummaged around on herself, then pulled out a pile of odd little accessories.

Three blue, two purple.

She even removed her hairpin. Her ink-black hair cascaded loosely down her back like a waterfall, carrying a delicate fragrance and further accentuating her cool beauty.

Too bad she was a total goofball.

Lu You decisively confiscated everything and asked somewhat apologetically, "Any more?"

Kaguya Ruri's jewel-like eyes widened.

"No! There really isn't anything left!"

"Good. Then close your eyes."

Close my eyes? Why (｡•́︿•̀｡)?

Kaguya Ruri looked utterly puzzled. For some reason, her earlobes were a translucent red, as though burning.

She slowly closed her eyes and rose onto her tiptoes.

Waiting for something.

But Lu You was not looking at her. Holding the items, he silently commanded, Exchange them all.

[Congratulations, host! World crossings ×1, template draws ×1!]

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained 50,000 Star Husband Coins!]

It really isn't easy making a little money... Isn't there a map where I can do a knife run and scavenge some junk?

I only got this much by scamming a little rich girl.

"System, draw a character template!"

[Understood! Searching templates across the myriad worlds... 10%... 50%... 100%]

[4.6 trillion character templates found in this search. Filtering... excluding non-carbon-based life-forms... excluding universe-restricted characters... drawing...]

A faint blue glow burst from the system panel, and Lu You frowned.

[You have obtained the template: Gintoki Sakata (Blue)]

A blue template. A little low.

Sure enough, under normal circumstances, even purple templates were hard to obtain. He really had been ridiculously lucky before.

"System, use Star Husband Coins to redraw templates!"

[Understood! 50,000 Star Husband Coins consumed. Redrawing templates ×5!]

Streaks of light flashed across the panel, some purple, some gold, and occasionally even a dazzling crimson. Finally, the dark, dim panel erupted with brilliant purple light.

[Congratulations on obtaining the following character templates:

Hiruzen Sarutobi (Blue)

Rangiku Matsumoto (Blue)

Frieren (Blue)

Usopp (Blue)

Shirou Emiya (Purple)]

Lu You raised an eyebrow. There were quite a few familiar characters here, such as Hiruzen Sarutobi from Naruto, Rangiku Matsumoto from Bleach, and even Frieren from Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

Unfortunately, none of them were particularly powerful.

Frieren was probably among the strongest blue templates, but she still could not escape her world's limitations.

Just like Yuji Itadori. If he were placed in Bleach or Naruto, his combat strength could continue growing, but in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, he had essentially reached his limit at eighty-six.

Even if he lived another three hundred years, the world's ceiling was right there. Any improvement would not be very significant.

"Come to think of it, I can actually load female templates too? Just thinking about it is... exciting?"

A chill ran through Lu You, and he hurriedly shook off that strange thought. If it was a very powerful woman, that would be fine, but if she was merely average, there was no need to specifically choose her.

"Shirou Emiya... is actually a purple template? Which version of Shirou Emiya is this?"

[Character: Shirou Emiya (Purple)]

[Age: 18]

[Class: Magus]

[Constitution: Sword Bones-Blue, Magic Circuits-Green]

[Skills: Root Echo-Purple, Projection Magecraft-Purple, Unlimited Blade Works-Purple, Reinforcement Magecraft-Blue, Triple Crane Wings-Blue, Eye of the Mind-Blue, Magecraft: Vaporization-Green, Battle Continuation-Green, Archery-Green, Magecraft: Insight-Green, Swordsmanship Specialization-Green, Hrunting-Blue, Nine Lives-Blue, Dual-Wielding-Green, Magecraft: Modification-Blue, Unyielding Will-Blue, Clairvoyance-Green, Magecraft: Delay-Green, Magic Resistance-Blue, Independent Action-Blue]

Lu You: "..."

You're making my eyes hurt!

He had originally thought it was a particular version of Shirou Emiya, but now it looked more like a composite version.

Shirou Emiya only had three purple entries, but he had plenty of other minor skills, making him somewhat different from the Tiger Heavenly Emperor.

This also showed just how sneaky the Tiger Heavenly Emperor was: a full five purple entries! Far more than Shirou Emiya... though that was, of course, also related to how much longer the Tiger Heavenly Emperor had lived.

Shirou Emiya's talent was equally terrifying. Given enough time, growing to that level would not be a problem either.

Unfortunately, he was eighteen, not eighteen hundred.

"Load the template and send me to another world!"

Watching the domain being steadily eroded, Lu You's gaze deepened as he thought, Wait until I get back.

If you could return to that summer, would you still bet on him to win?

Without a single moment spent mourning Satoru Gojo's defeat, the next to arrive on the battlefield was... Lu You!

The next world is Jujutsu Kaisen. After all, that's what the book's title says, and I've already worked out the plot. It'll definitely be interesting. The more I write, the more smoothly it flows, hehe.

Also, thank you all for the gifts. Love you!